Conventional modular injection-molded tiles are known in the art for laying across upper surfaces of garage floors, sports surfaces, outdoor surfaces and other substrates. These tiles typically are twelve to thirteen inches square and can be manually assembled and disassembled. A common feature of these tiles is their ability to be snapped together, with few or no tools, using male and female connectors molded into each tile for the purpose.
Conventional single tiles are molded to be a single, uniform color such as all-black or all-red. The consumer typically can choose different tiles in different colors. The consumer or contractor will often choose two or more colors for a particular floor, for assembly into an aesthetically pleasing pattern. But manufacturing an injection-molded plastic tile that has two or more perceptible colors per tile is more difficult and to date no such tile has been provided that has proven to be acceptable to the consumer.
Many conventional modular plastic tiles are easily dislodged from their positions on the floor (particularly where wheeled vehicles are driven onto and off of them) and require a rubber sheet or the like as a substrate. It would therefore be advantageous to furnish a floor tile, for applications in which a large displacing lateral force may be applied to the tile, and which does not require a nonslip sheet as a substrate.
Previous attempts have been made to produce plastic modular tiles that have cushioning characteristics. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2009/0031658 A1 discloses modular athletic floor tiles that have a plurality of premolded rubber inserts which, after molding, are physically inserted into receiving holes in a molded plastic substrate. In one embodiment each rubber insert has a face that is stands up from the surrounding top floor surface. The body of each rubber insert extends all the way through the plastic substrate or base and well below its bottom. The rubber inserts are selectively compressed when an athlete stands on them, giving a cushioning effect. But it is believed that the separate molding of these inserts, flash removal from them and physical insertion of them into respective receiving holes in the plastic tile substrate is time-consumptive and greatly increases the cost of manufacture of the resultant tile.
A need therefore persists in the industry for modular plastic tiles which can sustain heavy loads but have non-slip characteristics, which will be effectively joined together, which can be provided in a plurality of colors per tile, and which can be manufactured quickly and inexpensively.